Let me push back a bit against the previous two reviews. My daughter was with Maria and Juan from 5 months to 18 months, and I hadn't realized how lucky we'd been to find them until I went looking for daycares in the new town I've moved to. The main thing about Maria's is that it's like having an experienced member of your own family watching your kid. They actually care about all the kids as individuals. Maria asks about your kid's night when you drop her off, and fills you in on highlights of her day when you pick her up. She's been doing daycare for upwards of 30 years, so she'll offer advice if you want it. Instead of random hired people, her helpers are her husband Juan and a couple high schoolers who she cared for as babies. Maria is flexible about the business side of things: in addition to being inexpensive, there aren't a bunch of punitive clauses in her contracts, and there aren't forms for you to fill in for dropping off, or her to fill in for tracking poo and food. Her hours (7 AM-6 PM) are fantastic, the best I've seen. Maria is as reliable as a small operation can be: in the year I was there she only closed for her own illness once... She was open even while suffering with the norovirus that ran through the daycare in the fall. She does occasionally have to close to nurse other people in her family.
Maria and Juan are deeply embedded in their community, and they want you to get those benefits also: you hear about and meet Maria's sons; you hear about and get invited to Juan's samba classes at the Mountain View Community Center; every time there's a city-wide garage sale or a parade or festival, Juan lets you know. They go to garage sales on the weekends to find toys and clothes for daycare. Here's an article about Juan getting a medal for his actions when he was in the Air Force, with a photo that shows them in the daycare area of their house: http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2013/07/12/a-hero-all-along
There are some people who probably won't want to put their kids in Maria's Home Daycare. If you think "antiseptic" is a good word to have associated with your baby, give Maria's a miss; there's carpet in the kid area, and some of the furniture is a bit tattered. (I think you're making a mistake, but hey, science hasn't yet overwhelmingly proven the Hygiene Hypothesis.) If you don't believe that most people are good, give Maria's a miss; people drop by to chat (uncles, parents of kids who have aged out of Maria's care, fiancees of Maria's sons) and are welcomed. I'm glad that my kid likes strange people.
In terms of traditional day care offerings, it's a huge benefit that Maria's doesn't go in for structured learning "circle time" flash card nonsense. OMFG they're kids, they should play and thereby learn the most complicated subject: how to interact with people. So far as I can tell, the only things ruled out for the kids are mean things or dangerous things: I'm glad that my kid gets to boldly climb on their furniture. Discipline is saying "no" or directing the kid to sit on the couch, then cuddling if the kid is sad (my kid learned to be cuddlier from Maria and Juan). The food at Maria's is a huge plus: sometimes there are things from a box, but often she makes real food from her Italian heritage (like pork chops) and gives it to the kids. It was a livesaver for us as new parents of a baby that she'd sometimes send home jars of soup-puree made from the veggies they grow out front. There are a mix of ages, so the kids have four-year-olds to look up to and emulate, and babies to learn to pat gently. There's no formal language shifting, but Maria uses some Italian and Juan uses some Spanish. My kid did learn to dance to music, which is adorable. Their outdoor play area is shaded by huge eucalyptus trees, so I never had to worry about sunburn.
I wish the TV wasn't on all the time, but it seems to be ok; maybe that's where my kid learned about triangles. I wish they weren't so into girls wearing dresses and being caring, but I guess along with 1970s-80s ideas that kids should be playful and independent you also get 1970s-80s ideas of gender. In all, if there was a clone of Maria's Day Care 30 minutes north, I'd absolutely send my kid there. read more